Code Lyoko Evolution
by md-martin
Summary: Two years after the Supercomputer had been deactivated, a new threat rises. The history of Antea and Franz Hopper comes to haunt our heroes, and the mysterious "Green Phoenix" puts their plans into action. Inspired by the novels and upcoming season.
1. Prologue

Echoes. The sound of footsteps bounced around in the spacious storm drains. The first footsteps in years. *_Cling Clang_ the young man created loud sounds as he climbed up the metal ladder that reached up to the surface. He covered up the hole to the secret passage and he began to walk down the bridge to the giant, overwhelming abandoned factory. It was a miracle the place still had not been demolished or bought after years, however the young man expected a certain man had taken care of everything when he began his work in the basement of this factory over two decades ago.

The young man reached the freight elevator and punched in the code. This young man wasn't like others of his age. Easily a genius, however he did not try to show it off. Remembering the code that hadn't been punched in the elevator in over two years astounded him, however punching in that code so many times, in such a rush, when putting in that code fast enough could be the difference of life and death might have had something to do with him remembering it.

The elevator brought him down to the lowest level. As he entered the room, the floor panel instantly glowed, power being sucked from untouched, dusty wires into the floor panel. Light glowed from the creases in the 3 panels that met at the center of the room, that met in the center of a logo that meant so much to this young man. Was this logo still the mark a man had used to distinguish his work from a terrorist organization? Was this logo the mark of simply that mans greatest creation, and not his ideas? Or was this logo now the mark of that mans failed creation, the creation that could have been listed in a dictionary as the alternative definition for "evil".

The panel separated into the three pieces that made it up. As the logo split into three, three names came to the young mans mind.

"_Franz Hopper._

_Aelita_

…_.X.A.N.A."_

A column rose out of the floor, steam exiting this awesome machine as a micro-fraction of it's power activated, just to give this theatric appearance as the power switch was presented. This defined the mystery of who Franz Hopper was. He created a machine that had influenced the world in so many ways, yet he was still a human. He was still a loving father and husband, and above all wanted to protect his family.

The young boy walked a few steps into the room, reaching the column. His blond hair blew back a bit as ventilation fans activated to try and cool down this Supercomputer. His glasses began to become a bit fogged up by the steam in the room. He looked down at a panel covering the master switch. He pressed a button and the panel moved, and the switch came into view. It was down, just has they had left it two years ago.

"Well, this is it. I'm either setting up the first step in saving the world..."

The young man pushed the switch up, the power overwhelmed the computer, lights turning on, humming sounds growing louder and louder, electricity sparking out of old wires.

"...Or I'm setting up the first step in the destruction of the world."


	2. Chapter 1

A cool Autumn breeze flowed through the campus of the Kadic Academy. The air was still warm sending nostalgic memories of great summers into students minds, however it was time for school. Everybody was in a frantic, moving back into dorms, getting schedules and supplies from the offices, however some students were a bit preoccupied.

"Come on Dunbar, make another smart-ass comment! Come on!" One of the older students in the recreational students was yelling at the tall, muscular, dark haired man on the couch.

"I call it as I see it. Your picking on the younger students because you were probably teased when _you _were there age. And I wasn't making "smart-ass comments". I simply said "tubby, don't eat the 7th graders." William said to the heavy-set senior. William found him picking on the younger students earlier in the rec-room and had said something to him. One of the downsides of this large school was that it incorporated both high-school and middle-school students into it. William was lucky enough to have moved into the school when he was older, and in the 9th grade.

"Tubby! At least I didn't get left back! I may be big but not only will I be able to actually graduate with my friends, I can sure as hell kick your ass! So come on Dunbar, make another comment! Say one more word!"

"One, more, word."

The larger one of the two swung at William, who was still sitting down on the couch. William easily ducked the punch and jumped over the back of the couch, throwing off his black leather jacked and raised his fists. "If you wanna fight, I'll give you one. But just remember, not only will you lose, but we'll both get in trouble for fighting. School starts in two days once everybody's back in the dorms and I'm sure having detention _and_ a black eye won't look good for you." William said this calm, and cool. In the past he may have been reckless, and done some stupid things, but this was the year for him to amend those mistakes.

One incident in particular, caused by his rashness almost caused a certain robotic army from reaching completion. Williams reckless thinking, and disobedience had almost caused millions of people to die, and also sabotaged his friendships with some amazing people to end. While he wasn't in control of his actions he still caused a great deal of physical and emotional pain to them. He spent two years trying to gain their trust back, and for the most part did. They were friends, he finally had the friends he had always wanted. However yearning to gain back lost trust wasn't a quick task. He had done very poorly in school, and when the time for graduation came, his grades weren't good enough. He had to repeat his final year, yes. However he was with friends.

The heavier one had swung again, however William easily ducked, rolled over behind him, and pushed him down. Before he could get up, William put his foot on his chest, pushing down hard enough to get his attention. "Like I said, are you _absolutely sure_ you want to start the year off like this?" The man on the bottom tried to get up, but realized William was stronger.

"Fine, I'm sorry Dunbar. Please just let me go." William had taken his foot off of him and helped him off. He rubbed the dirt off of the mans shirt, and reached for his leather jacket. As he put it back on, the man went to punch William again, however a third person caught intercepted the fist with his own arm, reached behind, grabbed him by the neck, and brought him back down to the ground. He had him in a strong hold, and the man couldn't even see who had taken him down.

"I could have taken care of that myself you know." William spoke to the interceptor. He looked right past the man in the hold, giving him no attention.

"Yea right, you would have been stuck trying to get your favorite jacket back on." His hold on the fat man had grown weaker as he casually spoke, however when he tried to escape he easily held him down. "So, you gonna stop trying to fight dirty, because William _will_ beat you in a fight. He's beaten me many time, and I've beaten him many times, so I know exactly how strong he is. If you want to continue this, tell me and I'll let you fight him. But if you want to leave, you can't pull any of this dirty fighting anymore, alright Anthony?" Anthony wasn't the most social student at the school, and hadn't had many friends so he was surprised when the man holding him knew of him.

"Who the hell are you!" Anthony yelled out. Muscles relaxed, he stopped holding Anthony as he barged up onto his feet quickly. "Ulrich Stern!"

"Yup. I saw you at one of my soccer games last year. You were the one who was stealing people wallets from under the bleachers right?"Anthony gulped at the memory of this, and being caught by Jim afterward. "You saw me playing, you know just how fast I am, and how far I can kick a ball. You don't want to see how far I can kick your ass." Ulrich gave a vicious look at Anthony who ran out of the rec-room.

"Well done Mr. Stern, well done." William said smiling.

Back in the offices of the Academy, shouting could easily be heard by most of the staff. "But Daddy, why do I have to share a room this year! I'm the principals daughter! I don't need to!" Sisi Delmas shouted at her father. She had always been a bit spoiler by her father, but as she grew up in the school, even with the principal as your father, she couldn't always get what she wanted.

"I'm sorry Sisi dear, but we have a large amount of students this year. It's not like previous years where students could volunteer to share rooms, and some could have there own. There simply isn't enough room, and if I give you special treatment I will get called out on it." Principal Delmas tried to be fair as both a principal and father. He wanted the best for her daughter, but knew that she would need to get past this spoiler stage in her life and grow up. She had become closer with a gang of students that often gave the Principal headaches at time, but were good students at heart In particular two of the kids in the group, one of which he had assigned to be Sisi's roommate.

"Sisi, everything will be alright. I've already got you a roommate who you already know and didn't mind boarding with you."

"And who is that may I ask?" She replied in a stuck-up attitude.

"Aelita Stones. She said it could be fun getting to know you better, and I'd advise you to keep the same thing in mind." He smiled, but then gave a stern look when finishing the sentence. He put his hands on Sisi's shoulders and gave her a sympathizing look. "Sisi, this is your final year here at the Academy, make it the best year you can." She looked at him and nodded in defeat. He smiled and she went to leave her fathers office. She grabbed her schedule and room key off of her fathers desk before leaving, but he stopped her before she made it out of the door.

"One more thing Sisi dear, could you please give this to Aelita when she gets back to the Academy? This package came yesterday for her. It's from her mother."


	3. Chapter 2

A normal, run down automobile factory was all it seemed to be from the exterior. Underneath was the biggest secret anyone could imagine. Jeremie Belpois had been working at the Supercomputer for almost an entire day straight, since he reactivated it. He sat there, sweaty and exhausted. He was dressed in white sneakers, black jeans, and a plain red T-shirt. He typed vigorously at the keyboard, trying to crack codes the average person would not comprehend.

"He's back. There is no trace of him on the Internet, or Lyoko but he is back, I know it. This new scanner better detect him, or we're screwed."

In town another member of _that_ group from two years ago was getting ready. Not for another year at Kadic, but for a new start at College. "Yumi, you start school in a few weeks. I understand that all of your friends are still at Kadic, but it time to put them behind you. You've been accepted to a great school in Japan, along with that you get to learn more about your heritage, and your fortune enough to have a loving Uncle who's letting you live with him, rent free. Be happy Yumi, your mother and I just want the best for you." Mr. Ishiyama said to his daughter. It was true, he did just want the best for her, however he thought of high school friends as a "thing that would fade".

"I know Dad, and I love you for it, but it's hard saying goodbye, I still haven't told Ulrich or the others about me getting accepted. I don't know how I'm going to tell them..." Yumi explained. She sighed and looked down at the floor, wishing things could stay the same.

"Well I'm sure you will figure everything out, you are a bright girl." Her father patted her on the shoulders and walked away.

"Wondering how ULRICH is going to take the news"? Yumi's little brother Hiroki had entered the room. He had a box of school supplies in his arms, getting ready for school in a couple of days back at Kadic.

"Shut up Hiroki, it's hard enough I need to do this soon, but I have no idea how I'll tell him". Yumi was clearly upset, and Hiroki's face had lowered when he realized she wasn't in the mood.

"Well, maybe I can tell him for you..."" Hiroki had surprised himself by offering this gesture. Yumi looked up with glee for a split second before her face returned to it's saddened form. "No, I mean...it wouldn't be right. It'd be shallow. I can't continue a relationship with him if I'm in another country, and I'm afraid he'll do something stupid like drop out to come with me. He's worked too hard to give it up, and I know he'd easily abandon everything". Yumi was sad, yet happy at what she heard herself say. Ulrich was amazing for her, but she couldn't get in his way again. "Fine, if you would do it Hiroki, I'd really appreciate it". Yumi smiled at her brothers kindness and walked out of the room.

"Fine, now how do I do this. I know, I'll get Johnny to do it"! Hiroki smiled at his idea and ran out of the house to the Academy to find him.

Back at the Academy two girls were getting to know each other as roommates. "Alright, so this half is mine, and that's yours. If you cross it, I'll just be forced to tell my father your invading my privacy"! Sisi exclaimed, as if she had one a battle of wits with the light red(Almost pink) haired girl.

"Sisi, your not honestly going to split the room are you? Are you going to get tape and draw lines? I'll try and stay out of your way as long you respect me and my things. Alright? This doesn't have to be World War III, we can manage this. What do you say"? Aelita stuck her hand out and smiled.

Sisi reluctantly shook hands with her and went back to putting her cloths away. "Oh yea, Daddy wanted me to give this to you." Sisi handed Aelita the package that her father had given her earlier. Aelita examined the beige paper covered box for a minute before asking "Who's this from"?

"Daddy said it was from your mother". Sisi turned around not knowing anything was wrong but behind her Aelita's eyes and mouth were wide open.

"My...my mother"? Aelita thought Sisi might have been joking, but the group never filled her in about Lyoko, as far as she knew, Aelita was still Odd's cousin.

"What are you deaf? Yes it's from your mommy". Sisi exaggerated the last word and Aelita looked back at the package, almost forgetting she had one. She thought of what it could be. Her mother was obviously...not around anymore. Aelita was almost certain she was with her father now...

Aelita tore open the paper and there was a small, wooden box. The box was a dark colored wood, smooth and of fine texture. Brass hinges on the back and a small brass lock on the front. On the top of the box was a Phoenix, carved into it with great detail. Aelita examined the Phoenix, something was familiar about it.

"I...I gotta go find Jeremie"! Aelita burst out of the room with the box towards Jeremie's dorm. She had not seen him since he arrived. In fact she only knew he arrived from a text from William who briefly met him as Jeremie's father brought him and his stuff back. Aelita ran over to Jeremie's dorm and burst open the door.

He wasn't there. Boxes were placed on the floor and on the bed, and half of Jeremie's (updated) computer set-up was put together on the desk. He always had more then one monitor, as he was great at multitasking. Back when he was working on Materializing her, Jeremie could be working on an essay with one monitor, playing a video game on another, and chatting with Aelita on the main one.

Only two monitors were set up, but the actual computer itself was up and running. She looked on the screen and something was minimized on the screen. She went over and saw the Icon for a program flashing, indicating something was happening with it. She pressed on the icon and it was one of Jeremie's very own programs. Back when X.A.N.A. Had first escaped the Supercomputer, he was worried about how X.A.N.A. Would operate. He didn't know if the malicious program could attack without the use of towers then(Later proven wrong) So he had created a program that would asses all police reports around the world. It wasn't hard creating a program like this with the Supercomputer. The program would asses anything that might seem out of ordinary for an emergency, and it would alert him when something happened.

In the summer after X.A.N.A. Had escaped the Supercomputer he had gotten many alerts from the program, but as he looked into the dozens of reports during that summer as they came in, none were related to X.A.N.A.

Aelita looked on the program and saw something had happened. The text read "Astronaut sent to repair classified technical problem last year, disappears". Aelita remembered that one of the Supercomputers X.A.N.A. Had created was on a space shuttle.

"Jeremie deactivated this program once we found out X.A.N.A. Still needed the towers on Lyoko, why is this active now"? She asked herself. She began looking on the program at recent reports that were read already.

"People reported missing in jungle in Amazon Rainforest".

"Unusual army activity in New Mexico worries residence".

"Two teens claim to find an alien ship with weapons in Siberia".

Aelita had realized that these were all reports about the Replica Supercomputers they had taken down. Aelita had began looking that the set options in the program and her curiosity only grew when she saw that Jeremie had placed alerts in the area's near the Supercomputers, and an alert on unusual Nassau activity.

"I need to find him, now"! Aelita turned off the computer and ran out of the dorm to find Jeremie, and answers.


	4. Chapter 3

Aelita ran frantically down the halls of the dorm room. She struggled to not run into all of the people moving back into the dorms. However she failed at this, and as she turned the corner ran into somebody with their arms full of boxes. The two of them fell to the ground and the boxes fell to the ground. A whimper like cry came from one of the boxes...

"Hey, watch out! Do you know what's in that box"! The short, skinny blond yelled and pointed at the box that was...well whining. "Wait...Aelita"? Odd Della Robia quickly pulled his friend off of her feet.

She took a minute to register that it was Odd, but couldn't find the words for the situation. "Odd, Odd we need to go, now"! Aelita was yelling, and seemed to be shaking.

"No hello, how you doing, how's Kiwi"? Odd joked as he pulled his whining dog out from one of the boxes that dropped. "Sorry for keeping you in there so long, but they still don't except you my little diggity...well you get it by now". Odd was ignoring Aelita and focused entirely on the small dog that was now licking Odd's face.

"Odd, XANA Might be back"

That was all it took to get Odd's attention. "Wait, what? What do you mean XANA's back"? Odd was dead serious now and was not bothering to keep his voice down.

"Shhh. I don't know for sure yet but we need to find Jeremie, put your boxes in and meet me by the rec-room, that's where William and Ulrich are". Aelita ran off as Odd gathered his things(and dog).

Aelita burst into the rec-room to find William and Ulrich on the coach watching TV, resting their feet on an unconscious Anthony.

"Ulrich, William, We need to hurry. XANA..." Aelita didn't finish her sentence when she saw an unconscious Anthony under the two boys feet. "Why is he out cold"?

"Wait, XANA's back"? William jumped up alarmed. A chill ran down his back when he remembered the few scattered memories of his possession.

"He's unconscious because we knocked him out. Now what about XANA"? Ulrich stood up too now, and had a tightened fist ready, as if he could punch the multi-agent program back to non-existence.

"Jeremie's program found police reports near all of the Replica Supercomputers we destroyed. The reports are all recent, at least one person is missing, and something must have happened recently to make Jeremie re-activate the program and put in those coordinates". Aelita finished her sentence quickly and gasped for air.

"Well where is Einstein now"? Ulrich asked. "I saw him bringing stuff to his dorm before, but he said he couldn't talk and had something to do after getting his stuff away. Is he back at the dorms"? William added.

"I was just there, only his computer was set up and it had the program up. Do you think he's at the factory"? Aelita finished as Odd burst in the room, Kiwi following. "Where's Einstein"? Odd yelled.

"Alright, let's head to the factory. I'll call Yumi and tell her the details". Ulrich reached for his phone and held down one of he numbers, Reaching Yumi via speed-dial.

"Hello" Yumi answered the phone, sitting in her room at her house. She was still thinking of what she was having Hiroki do was the right thing.

"It's Ulrich, you have to get to the factory ASAP"! Ulrich struggled to speak as he was running as fast as he could with the others to reach the manhole in the woods.

"The factory! Why what's going on Ulrich"

"...XANA may be back, just hurry down here, please". They reached the manhole and William moved it aside. All of them apart from Ulrich had already gotten down the ladder and headed off without him.

"Alright I'm on my way. And Ulrich..."

"Yea"?

"Be careful". She hung up the phone, got her sneakers on, and had gotten in her car. She quickly drove off to reach the bridge that led to the factory as fast as she could. Ulrich ran to catch up with his friends and soon enough they had reached the Factory.

"Look, the ropes"! Aelita pointed out the ropes that dangled from the ceiling of the factory. They had always used them to reached the floor quickly with the stairs being partially destroyed. However when they deactivated the Supercomputer they had tied the ropes over a support beam on the ceiling so others would be less likely to go explore the Factory.

"Someones here, let's go"! Odd shouted as he ran, and jumped off, and grabbed onto one of the ropes. As it pulled out he loosened his grip and let himself slide down the rope, slightly burning his hand. He looked up at his friends who were still standing at the top. "Come on"!

William, Aelita, and then Ulrich had grabbed the ropes and swung down. They sprinted toward the elevator and looked at the keypad. "Damn, what was the code again"? Ulrich struggled to remember it, but before he could finish his sentence, Aelita had already put in the code.

The elevator ascended and had opened up for them. They quickly ran into it and Odd pressed the button that brought them to the first level below the surface. The doors opened and they were all shocked to see Jeremie sitting at the computer, typing. He had not even realized anybody was there.

"Jeremie"! Aelita yelled and he quickly turned. He was shocked to see her, but turned right back at the computer and continued working. "One second". His voice was that of someone who hadn't slept in days.

"Jeremie, is XANA back? What's going on"? She grabbed him by the shoulders and he quickly turned and snapped "One second"!

William, Odd, and Ulrich were shocked, he had never spoken like that to Aelita. Kiwi began to bark at Jeremie, thinking he was going to hurt Aelita. Jeremie had realized how he acted and quickly regained composure.

"I'm so sorry I haven't been keeping you updated guys, but I didn't want to scare you. To put it bluntly, XANA may be back". Jeremie had turned to face them and closed his eyes, trying to get as much rest in a few seconds as he could. He knew he was about to be flooded with questions.

"What do you mean, 'may be back'? Is he back, or isn't he"? Ulrich snapped this time.

"Einstein, whats going on, you should have told all of us"? Odd questioned him before he could respond to Ulrich.

William stood there silent. He tried to act calm, cool, and collected. He had to keep himself from shaking at the thought that XANA could be back.

The elevator had moved again; Yumi had arrived. Jeremie waited for Yumi to get down before answering any questions. Once Yumi had gotten her emotional-question-asking out of the way he finally responded.

"Alright, so here is what happened in a nutshell. My parents are planning to move to America within the month. My fathers the manager for a branch of a small company here, but the company's gaining a large amount of money from the United States. They wanted my father to oversee a huge branch that would be stationed in New Mexico. My parents were obviously thrilled to move, and make a large amount of money, and they wanted me to go down with them as they went to take a look at the town my parents are going to move to. When I went down there, I noticed that the company was pretty close to the army base that one of XANA's supercomputers were at. I tried to keep myself away, as they do say curiosity killed the cat". He took a break to take a drink from the cup of coffee he had next to him. Then he continued.

"My father met with the founder of the company, Brian Weltcheck. The company sells security equipment that has been becoming popular recently. It was founded here in France but couldn't compete with other company's. The equipment they sell is fine, and it's the same company that creates the security camera's I set up across the factory when we began fighting XANA. However when we met Brian Weltcheck he informed us on why he wanted my father to manage this branch of the company. Apparently the army base had been having problems with their equipment, and they decided to go with buying from another company. They wanted my father to oversee this branch as it would be catering to citizens, and the army branch in that area". Jeremie paused once again to let everybody process this.

"So wait, what does this have to do with XANA? This isn't really 'in a nutshell' you know, Einstein"? Odd smirked.

"Sorry, I'm rambling. Anyway, I was speaking with Brian Weltcheck and I asked him about the problems. He said that army base had been using a cheaper company's security equipment and that all of a sudden it started to malfunction. He said the army base had been inspecting something that happened there two years ago. Apparently when they were 'inspecting' this thing, the security camera's started to malfunction so they replaced them. Then the replacements stopped working. They assumed it was bad equipment, but you can guess what I assumed..."

"Xana" William spoke, shaking now. Aelita rested a hand on his shoulder to try and calm him, knowing what it felt like to be a prisoner of sorts.

"Bingo. I had gotten my father to convince Brian Weltcheck to see if he could get any of the old equipment for me, as they were responsible for getting rid of the old company's equipment. I was able to get it, and examined it. That's when I noticed it; the equipment simply wasn't working when near the base. Something was causing to to bug out when they happened to be checking out the Supercomputer. I reactivated the police report scanner on my laptop and searched the files of the nearest police station. There where encrypted files I had to hack,but apparently in early August a man infiltrated the base and tried to steal some parts from the Supercomputer. I searched the coordinates for the other Supercomputers we destroyed, and the NASSAU shuttle and needless to say, we got reports. I've been working for days on a new scanning program on my computer at home, and on my laptop on the drive back to school, but I needed to finish it here". Jeremie finished.

"Aelita tried to let the information process when she realized she was stilll holding the box from earlier, with a Phoenix engraved in it. "Jeremie! I forgot I had gotten this in the mail"! Aelita gave him the box and he examined it. He noted the lock on the front and rubbed his finger along the engraved mythical creature. "A Phoenix"?

"Mr. Delmas said it was from my mother". Aelita said sternly.

"Your mother, but isn't she..." Yumi led off.

"You sure Mr. Delmass didn't just give it to the wrong person Princess"? Odd said.

Aelita pulled out the paper the box was covered in, with a small white notice from the sender, to the recipient on it. Aelita read it "From Antea Stones, to Aelita Stones".

"Whoever it is, they know your mothers name, and your alias". William finally spoke, feeling he needed to contribute in some way.

"This lock is simply brass, we can easily break it open". Jeremie set the small box down and reached for a screwdriver. He pushed it into the wood under the lock and it flung off of the box. Jeremie handed it to Aelita to open. She took the box and opened the top. Everybody gathered around Aelita to look inside the box.

Inside was a diamond ring, four envelopes, and a picture of Franz Hopper and Antea, holding a baby Aelita. "A ring"? Odd questioned as he held the ring up. "Nice diamond, that probably cost a lot".

"Odd, put it down"! Yumi yelled at him. He put it back in the box as Jeremie reached and got the envelopes. They were marked with numbers, one through four. Jeremie carefully opened the first one. He took a piece of paper out of the envelope and began to read it.


	5. Chapter 4

_"Dear Aelita, _

_ If you are reading this then it seems I wasn't able to survive. Aelita I hope you've grown up to be a strong, intelligent woman, who is incredibly responsible. If you are reading this then I was none of those things. Aelita I am so sorry. Your father and I have made several mistakes throughout our lives, and we did not realize how our actions could effect someone we love. Aelita your father and I can do nothing but hope you will be able to forgive us for our mistakes one day, and hope you will never make the same mistakes we have. Aelita your father and I both were recruited by an organization known as the "Green Phoenix" when we were younger. We were only in our early twenty's I believe when we had met. The "Green Phoenix" is an organization that was founded to maintain order throughout the world as great as possible. Many people have been killed by the order of the "Green Phoenix" to "Maintain order." Many people have risen to positions of power, supported by the "Green Phoenix" for "The greater good."_

_ The "Green Phoenix" Recruited your father and I to join a team in creating a computer for them, a computer that would be able to monitor all long distance communication throughout the world._

_We didn't know what we were getting into, but your father and I were recruited and once we joined, we quickly learned there was no way they would let you leave. They told us we were helping "the greater good" and by being able to monitor every telephone call, every sentence, every person could ever say they will be able to stop any sort of evil in an instant. The organization predicted that personal computers would become popular in the coming years and that by having "Green Phoenix" operatives be the one to "revolutionize computers" we would be able to closely monitor people. They had predicted that people would become more dependent on them, that all information would be stored into them, information they would then have. Your father and I knew we wouldn't let them go through with "Project Carthage" so we sabotaged the near complete Supercomputer and escaped. We had you, we became a family. We were happy, however the "Green Phoenix" found us, and took me from you. They took me prisoner and lied to me, telling me they had captured you and your father. They had me rebuild the Supercomputer, had me reinstate Project Carthage. _

_ When they were testing it, they wanted to show how it could intercept military broadcast, and we had listened over private military radio communication. I had realized I could use this testing as an opportunity. Without the "Green Phoenix" knowing, I had located you, knowing the alias your father would go by. Using the Super computer I had sent a message to a friend of mine. She is one of the only people I could ever trust, her name is Beth Dolan. Beth had listened carefully and sent you a message, in the form of "Mister Puck". Attached to him was a letter, a coded letter for your father. _

_ I gave him information about the repaired Supercomputer, and gave him instructions on how to get the supplies to make his own. Using Carthage I forged documents, took money from bank accounts, and bought over an owner-less factory near Kadic Academy. The forged documents ensured the French government would never interfere with it. Your father completed it, and went a step further. He said he had cracked the biggest code in the world, achieved something the "Green Phoenix" could never have dreamed to accomplish. He learned to "Return to the past". He said he can reset time by a couple of days at the most, however he would be able to keep his memories, and be able to accomplish more feats with much more time. It must have been true because when your father and I traded coded messages once again, he stated he created a "Paradise, a virtual world without danger". He said by being able to bring the human minds perspective into the world of data, of "ones and zeroes" he could create an entire world with codes. _

_ Along with that he's created a major enemy for the "Green Phoenix'". His multi-agent program XANA has been attacking the Supercomputer, and been stealing data from Project Carthage. Communication is nearly impossible with him now that XANA is destroying the Supercomputer, however he now has an ultimate amount of data. The organization is certain it is your father, however they have no clue where to look"._

Then here it says "_Update: Aelita, my sweet darling. The "Green Phoenix" Has found you! XANA had stolen almost all of the data from the Supercomputer. Along with that, it destroyed the data on another project, for an Artificial Intelligence. My greatest fear is not only the "Green Phoenix" now, but this XANA could also be just as dangerous if your fathers Supercomputer falls into the wrong hands. I'm going to try and escape tonight and bring this letter to Beth. She is the only person who's intelligence matches mine and your fathers. If she has sent this to you it means that the "Green Phoenix" has become aware of your existence._

_ Along with this should be three other envelopes. They include the coordinates of "Green Phoenix" bases throughout Europe, aliases I advise you to use, money, and more information you may need. Along with that there is a ring. This ring is given to all of the women in the "Green Phoenix, and a watch is given to all the men. Under a black-light a Green Phoenix will appear. The highlighted aliases in the documents will be aliases of "Green Phoenix" members you can impersonate, and the ring is to further hide yourself. _

_ Aelita, I wish it never had to come to this. I wish I could have been a better mother, however I wish most of all for you to be safe._

_ Love, _

_ Antea Hopper. _


	6. Chapter 5

The group stood there in awe as Jeremie finished reading the letter. Aelita dug through the box once again, pulling out the ring. She looked intently onto it. Jeremie looked at her face and he could see her expressions changing as she processed what she was just read. Looks of sadness, guilt, rage and acceptance were reflected back at Aelita through the shining, green ring.

Everyone else simply looked to Aelita. She stood in middle of a circle they had formed around her, waiting for her vocal reaction to this news. William had begun to compose himself and tried to focus on Aelita, and not on the thought of XANA being back.

"The _Green Phoenix_. They were the ones that caused all of this. _They_ were the reason my father had to create the Supercomputer. _Their_ artificial intelligence program caused XANA to go rouge, and cause so much pain. _They_ are the reason my father is dead"!

"So what now"? Odd began. "We still have no idea how XANA came back from the dead and why he's getting involved with the Supercomputer's we destroyed".

Jeremie swerved his chair to take a look at the new super-scanner. When there was no activity on the screen he turned back to Odd and said, "Well this scan should be detecting any trace of XANA near the four Supercomputers. We know little to nothing about XANA's return. Once we get a little bit of information we can begun to figure out how he came back. If I had to guess, I'd say this _Green Phoenix_ is behind it".

Yumi raised an eyebrow. "Jeremie, I understand we now know more about Aelita's past and and the creation of XANA but why would the _Green Phoenix_ do something now? Wouldn't they have done something years ago when XANA was actively fighting us"?

Aelita intervened before Jeremie could answer. "We got this package from "_my mother_". Judging by what the letter said it probably was from that person Beth, who she trusted. How she knew where to find me is beyond me. And why wouldn't she come in person"?

"It seems like we need to go find this person if we want to get some answers". Ulrich said.

"Ulrich is right. We need to find Beth Dolan and question her. We still have some time before school starts for the year, maybe we can find her before then". Jeremie finished his sentence and eagerly checked back to the computer monitor, hoping for something.

"We don't even know if she is in France though! She could be on the other side of the world"! Yumi had to be the realist here. She wanted to get answers, and wanted to solve this problem as soon as possible, but she knew they couldn't be running in blindly.

"There was no sender address on the package. We should see Mr. Delmas, maybe he knows where the package came from". Aelita added.

"Alright, let's go. The Super-scan will send my phone a text message if it finds something, and I'll be able to hop onto my laptop and see what it is". Jeremie planned ahead, always had, always will.

"To the Principal's"! Odd yelled as they boarded the elevator.

"I'm sorry but I don't know where the package came from Aelita. It is strange that it did not have an address on the packaging, and it baffles me as to why the postal service would allow that package to be sent with improper information". The group stood in Mr. Delmas's office and tried to get some information out of him.

"Alright, well thank you anyway sir". Aelita sighed but acted polite despite her disappointment. As they turned to leave, the principal stopped them.

"Ms. Stones, why do you need to know the sender's address anyway? It was from you're mother, wasn't it?" Mr. Delmas questioned her, not forgetting this groups suspicious activity's over the years.

"Uhm, well you see sir, Uhm..." Aelita was cut off by Odd pushing her out of the open door in the principal's office and cut in. "Aelita's mother ran off when she was little! How dare you sir, you are a principal are you not"!

"Yes, but..."

"Honestly sir, you were always such a kind and caring principal, but this is crossing the line! Boundaries man! There is a personal and student-principal relationship, and you are in no position to be messing with that Mr. Delmas"!

Mr. Delmas rubbed the sweat off of his forehead. His face was blushed red and he mumbled words trying to make the situation less awkward. Odd began to push the rest of his friends out of the office and spoke a few last words to him.

"You do not want to start the school year off with a scandal in the paper"! Odd began to make air quotes with his fingers. "Kadic principal makes A-Plus student cry, questioning her family issues'. Come on sir, think before you speak"! Odd slammed the door of the office as he left, causing a picture frame to drop off of the wall. Mr. Delmas ran his hands though his hair in utter confusion as to what just happened.

Odd led the rest of the group out of the administrative building quickly, hushing them from speaking before they were out of sight from any faculty members. "Odd that was amazing"! Aelita hugged Odd for saving her from this risky situation.

"Odd how did you learn to act like that? Did you see Delmas's face"! Ulrich patted Odd on the shoulder and looked at him in amazement of what he just did.

"All in a day's work for Odd the magnificent"! He bowed as Yumi and Jeremie clapped for him.

"Alright, well Delmas was no help. So it seems we need to search for Beth". Jeremie pulled his laptop from his bag and sat on a bench once they left the administrative area of the Academy.

"But if she was a _Green Phoenix_ member wouldn't she be going by an alias?" Aelita remembered what her mother had wrote about her being an ex-member of the secretive agency.

"Your probably right. But I don't see what else we could do right now. We have no leads as to where she could be or any information on her current life. All we know is she was friends with your parents, Aelita, and that she was a former member".

"Hang on, I think I got something"! William shouted, surprising the group. He reached into Aelita's bag and took out the package. He opened it and pulled out the envelope with the list of aliases Antea had left for Aelita. "Aelita's mother left these aliases for her in case the _Green Phoenix_ forced her to run. She picked these in particular, I'm sure of it. They're probably people that the _Green Phoenix_ has no way of finding info on. Chances are if Beth is going by an alias, it's on this list". William handed the list of aliases to Jeremie, and he began skimming some of the names on it.

"William that's amazing" Yumi ran up and hugged William. He was hesitant, but hugged her back. Yumi had been with Ulrich ever since XANA had been (Seemingly) destroyed. While Ulrich and William had become friends, and he accepted Yumi was with Ulrich, there was always an uncertain vibe when all three were together. Originally they blamed William for his own capture, as he had been reckless. However Yumi was the first one to accept him back, when he had begun to breakdown from flashbacks of being under XANA's control.

"It's well worth a shot. I'm going to go back to the Supercomputer and put these names in a super-scan. If I get info on anything, I'll reach you guys". Jeremie closed his laptop and walked away to make his journey to the Factory.

"Alright, well I've gotta get this little diggity-dog back to our room"! Odd pulled Kiwi out of the hood on his purple hoodie. Kiwi barked as he awoke from his nap in the hood.

"Was he in there the whole time! Even when we were talking to Delmas"? Ulrich questioned. Odd simply flashed his famous grin and began to run back to the dorms. "Alright, Well I have to go help him put his stuff away, I'll see you guys later". Ulrich reached in to kiss his girlfriend before he ran to follow Odd.

William studied Yumi as she watched Ulrich run away. She smiled for a couple of seconds, in case Ulrich turned back. When she was sure he wouldn't turn back her face lowered. She looked to the ground, lost in thought. William wondered what it was and took the chance to talk.

"Yumi, whats going on? We agreed a while back to tell each other everything. Weather it be my flashbacks to my days as a minion of XANA, or you getting in a fight with Hiroki. We agreed to tell each other everything, so spill it".

Yumi looked at him in the eyes, with a smile. She was going to say something about him being silly, or not knowing what he was talking about but she saw nothing but honesty and comfort in his eyes. Nothing but trust.

"I...I want to tell you William. I want to tell everyone, but I can't". Yumi looked down at the ground again, and tried to find a comfort zone to avoid crying in front of William. She thought of Ulrich first, but then she began to think of how she would be leaving him. Then she thought of William, always there for each other, but then she realized she was trying to avoid telling _him_ what was wrong in the first place.

William took his hand and brought it under her chin. He delicately led her eyes to meet his and he said, "Yumi, you _need_ to tell me, don't you"?

She turned around and mumbled what was wrong. He couldn't hear it and asked for her to repeat it.

"I've been accepted to a good school in Japan".

"Uhm...wow. Well good for you Yumi"! He acted as excited as he could, but both knew he was trying(badly) to mask his emotions.

"I don't know how I can do this to you guys. I mean, we've all been through so much, but the world isn't like Lyoko. Things age out here, the world moves on. I didn't know XANA would be back, I want to help fight, I should have anticipated him being back, I should have..."

William covered Yumi's mouth with his hand. "Shh". He eased. "Relax, there was no way you could have known, or any of us. You're right, the world does move on. You've been accepted into a great school. As much as it's sad your leaving, I can't help but feel excited for you, your going to get to go to Japan, see your heritage, and begin your life as an adult"! William was not only trying to make Yumi feel excited for this, but himself.

"I cheated in telling you. We _have_ to be honest with each other". She laughed. "But I was going to have _Hiroki_ of _all_ people break it to Ulrich, and after I was gone. Pretty low of me? Huh"?

"Not at all. Saying goodbye sucks". William looked down this time, he felt a bit dizzy as all of this was happening quickly, and the same day as finding out everything with Aelita nonetheless.

"William, thank you". She hugged him, and rested her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms tightly around her and closed his eyes. In two years all of them had grown, but Yumi had grown a lot less than the rest of them. William was practically a full head taller than her.

"Don't mention it". He moved around a bit, almost dancing with her. Only a few people where in the quad where they were standing. Yumi pulled away a bit, and opened her eyes. William did the same and their eyes met. They both leaned toward each other and...

"Dunbar! You have some nerve"!

Both of the teens jumped when Jim Morales had grabbed William by the arm and pulled him away. Jim was wearing black athletic shorts and a plain-red T-shirt. He (Surprisingly) wasn't wearing his favorite head band. He yanked William back and pushed him back a few feet. He spoke before William could get a word out.

"School hasn't even started yet and you and Stern picked a fight in the Rec-room"!

"Jim, that guy started with us, honest"! William pleaded for Jim to listen to him, but he crossed his arms and shook his head. "Still not gonna fly Dunbar, he was _unconscious_! U-N-C-O-N-C"? Jim tried to spell out the word for emphasis but failed. "Just get to the principal's office as I fetch Stern"!

William walked away as Jim stood next to Yumi. He looked back and him and saw Yumi, giving a small wave. He turned his head and continued the walk to Mr. Delmas's office.

Jim looked at Yumi, and she looked at him. "You graduated, get out"! He pointed to the direction of the gate and she began to walk away.


End file.
